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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26907661">so that's what they call a family</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/cowboyhatcat/pseuds/cowboyhatcat'>cowboyhatcat</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Julie and The Phantoms (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Character Study, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Optimistic Ending, Past Alex/Luke Patterson (Julie and The Phantoms), Reggie-centric (Julie and The Phantoms), better safe than sorry, bon apetit - Freeform, can this be considered a character study?, character death only in regards to the boys' deaths, if u squint, is that an applicable tag?, not beta read we die like men, realizes idk how, started adding tags</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 23:52:56</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>729</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26907661</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/cowboyhatcat/pseuds/cowboyhatcat</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>basically me taking "reggie ocassionally writes country songs" and running with it.<br/>title is from 1992 newsies' santa fe, and reggie's characterization is inspired by jack kelly! aka: a bit ooc. enjoy :)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>39</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>so that's what they call a family</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>ok, julie and the phantoms, you broke me. i'll write fanfics.<br/>i haven't written/posted a fanfic in a WHILE and this is mainly so i can get the feel for ao3/writing again. pls leave criticism/advice/thoughts/whatever !</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Growing up, Reggie’s pipe dream was to be a cowboy. It was stupid, and unattainable, and he was constantly reminded as much. But he didn’t care. (And wasn’t that why they called it a pipe dream?) Something just sounded so appealing about running away from his rocky, urban life to the open air of the country. Maybe there, he could get a fresh start.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>As he grew up, he got into music, made a few friends, and together, they formed a band. They called themselves Sunset Curve, and they were pretty good. Reggie basically let go of the whole cowboy thing (He did have fun using his newfound talent to write country songs, though). Sometimes he would think to himself that maybe someday, his band would become big. Wouldn’t that be cool? But then, a more pessimistic voice would chime in. Maybe someday, they’d have a falling out. Maybe one member would die young. The band would break up, and obviously, Reggie would be upset. ‘Cause the band was his family, and they’d always been there for each other. But not if something happened. If something happened, it would just be another sad, broken family. If something happened, he would take his money, however much he had, and leave for the country. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ok, so maybe he hadn’t dropped the whole cowboy thing. Not entirely. It had just grown up, matured, developed a bit with him, into a new kind of unrealistic. But it was an idea. No - It came from an awful, improbable scenario that he wouldn't think to hope for. But on the bad days, when the band wasn’t getting along, or not playing well, or whatever, it was comforting. Something to fall back on. The idea of fresh air.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But, yeah, he decided. Sunset Curve would take off. He started letting himself have hope that </span>
  <em>
    <span>this</span>
  </em>
  <span> could be his life, his happy, whole life, as they started booking more gigs at bigger venues and had people coming back to see </span>
  <em>
    <span>them</span>
  </em>
  <span> again and again and again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Don’t get it wrong, he loved performing. He really did. He loved music, and the band, and if they really did take off, which at this point, he was sure they would, he’d be on cloud nine. But again - and again and again and again, small reminders that made it feel like something was missing. The studio - some days, it felt like more of a home than the roof he grew up under. But it was Bobby’s garage, proof his parents cared about him. Eventually, to Alex and Luke, it was where they spent most of their nights - if not sneaking in through each other's bedroom windows. They had each other. Of course, Reggie loved the band. And he knew they loved him. But some days, it really felt like all he had, and it really didn’t feel like much. Sometimes, he just wanted some fresh air.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Well, he was right about two things. Sunset Curve did take off - almost. But the band broke up before they could, on account of not just one of them dying young, but three. Himself, Luke, and Alex. And that </span>
  <em>
    <span>sucked</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>But maybe, in the afterlife, things could still work out. Alex and Luke no longer had each other - well, not in the way that they used to - and they seemed fine. Better than ever, in fact. (Well, as good as you can be when you’re dead and all). Eventually, after overcoming the shock of his dead band mates from 25 years ago coming back to haunt him, Bobby apologized. He had just been an emotional kid who knew his friends’ families sucked and, when they all died the night their lives were supposed to begin, he wanted to keep their legacy alive the best way he knew how. But maybe he had let the fame and money get to his head, and somewhere down the road, he lost that purpose. Which he didn’t think would matter, cause, you know, they were dead. Who would know?  But he apologized. He did, and he really seemed to mean it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was fun, being in a band with Julie, Reggie decided. He finally realized, the band may have been all he had, but really, it <em>was</em> all he needed. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Performing</span>
  </em>
  <span> was his breath of fresh air. And maybe, someday, he still could make it to cloud nine.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>say hi 2 me on tumblr, i wanna make friends :) a-cowboy-needs-a-hat</p></blockquote></div></div>
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